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Ronald Reagan on Big Government | Most Terrifying Words

August 17, 2018PRIVACY AND FREEDOM

Ronald Reagan Thought These Were the Most Terrifying Words

Anyone curious about the views of Ronald Reagan on big government can consider what he thought were the nine most terrifying words in the English language: “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” Reagan stated many times the danger of this seemingly mundane claim, and it came to define many aspects of his presidency, as well as his legacy.

As the de facto representative of the federal government to the nation and around the world, it might seem at odds that the president would make such a claim about government intervention. However, Ronald Reagan on big government was much different than the president’s views on government in general. The president was a strong supporter of the idea that the federal government had too much power and influence. At the time, budgets for entitlement programs were ballooning and federal agencies had their hand in nearly every aspect of Americans’ daily lives. The state of the government was rendering it ineffective, and leading to over-regulated industries, with growth being stifled.

That led Ronald Reagan to take on big government with spending cuts, including a nearly 5-percent reduction in his very first year, with an overall reduction in discretionary domestic spending of about 14 percent during his inaugural year. One of Reagan’s cornerstone achievements was tax reform, which included reduction of tax rates and the elimination of a number of federal loopholes that had given the government unnecessary power over taxpayers’ finances. Reagan’s approaches to tax reform shifted the power from the federal government back to the American people, where it should have been.

The views of Ronald Reagan on big government have seen a resurgence in recent years, as the country has again grappled with unnecessary spending and influence by the government. Taking a cue from the past, reducing the size of government through de-regulation and funding cuts can help the public regain the control it deserves.

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Scweikert.Roger.R@Lowes.store.com

Seven reforms more than any other that I think could truly restore "the power of the people" to the people in our generation would include: 1) either removing the 435 member cap on the House of Representatives imposed by the "Permanent Reapportionment Act of 1929 or 2) imposing a different cap of 2 million population on the size of each state so that 3) the Electoral College will actually work as originally designed and be tied to population rather than consolidated in the hands of only 535, without allowing either political party to impose a "winner-take-all rule" on the count in each state as 49 states currently do; 4) requiring an annual bill for "your fair share" of the national debt to be sent to every individual citizen, non citizen and business (thanks to the recent Citizens United decision) -until such time as all debt is paid off; 5)and with this annual national debt bill being sent out with your annual income tax package, provide you with a line item copy of last years federal budget that allows taxpayers to specifically designate where each of their tax dollars should go subject to 6) an actual repeal of the individual, corporate and estate income taxes altogether and the substitution of a 80% tax on federal campaign fundraising instead; 7)empowering a permanent but quarterly rotating 51 member bi-partisian citizen Grand Jury to convene toindependently investigate all charges of political corruption for potential indictments, and allow those same federal Grand Juries the power to review all Supreme Court opinions on cases of law and the constitution; and finally 8)limit the President choice to nominate the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court only to a concurrent term with his or her own, and allow the Governors of the states to nominate the Associate Justices to similar concurrent terms subject to annual recall by the citizens of each state and the nation.